Octavia Tea Ancient Yunnan in Review

“Have you Kaplowitz’d to-day?”

Octavia Tea 

Ancient Yunnan

ORIGIN: Yunnan, China
TYPE: Black tea

FORMAT: Loose
METHOD: Infuser

WEBSITE: www.octaviatea.com

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NOTES:

Light syrups & warm citrus. Sits just a half-tick hazily in the cup, all honey-colored & orangey underneath. Depths 'nuff for scrying. Noses oddly akin to its eyeballing -- a far-away sweet/sour lilt. Some muted toasted herbaceousness. 

Sips to smooth focused notes of ripe mandarins and paler fruit juices. A buckwheat honey whisper (whimper?). Not much more. Slurps begin with a nice oaken astringency backed by a hint of peppercorn. When that arrives, leaves, a dull cereal grain earthiness is left in its wake.

While the smoothness of body is a selling point, particularly while its cleansed with an almost lovely dryness, the finish here is quite lacking. It drops off the table like a Sandy Koufax curve-ball, leaving behind only a mineral almost seawater salty note. All told a too mild offering. Meek, hesitant, & lost.

FINAL GRADE: B-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59

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